I posted this on another thread and thought that it might be relevant here. The Costco Kirkland stainless steel cookware is very good! Better than good because of the price and great quality (not made in China) it is excellent. I like what Costco represents and their business practices are very good, I don't however like what Walmart and Sam's club stand for. They have horrible treatment of employees and their overall work ethic is a scandal. When will Americans realize this and turn away from it or do they not care as long as they are saving a few dollars? You don't see this in other countries by the way. Here is my posting from another thread: I would like to give a different review of this cookware. I love them! I don't see what is wrong with buying the set. I use them all. Maybe I don't use each piece every time I cook but I have used them many times since I purchased them in December 2005. Not all the pieces are heavy. Only two of the pots really are (the sauté pan with lid, and the large sauce pot but both of them have a second handle on the opposite side of the regular handle) the rest of them are not so heavy considering the material and quality. These are very solid pieces. I don't know what is sold in the Costco stores anymore since the ones shown on their website didn't appear to have any Copper in them but the ones that I bought have Copper in them as well as Stainless steel. The Copper is a small (1 cm thick) band at the bottom of each pan/pot. I am very pleased with this set. They are very functional, easy to clean, affordable, and they do a great job. I've put them in the dishwasher a few times and although the Copper band at the bottom looks a bit spotted and discolored (can be easily polished with mild metal polish if you want that) the pieces are dishwasher safe. I have two All Clad pots and I have to say that although the weight and handle sizing of these two brands are different I think that the Costco version is quite good. It lived up to my expectations and then some. In fact I liked it so much I bought and brought it back with me to Sweden which is where I live. For the price that I paid and the same quality you cannot find that here! I should add in case anyone wants to know the pieces are made in Thailand. It is imprinted on the bottom of each piece. Thailand is not China. There is still quality in Thailand. I doubt that Costco would be selling these pieces if the quality was lacking.

(Like dcarch said) The CFP 5A does not have a separate on-off switch. It starts when you turn the bowl lid to the fully closed and latched position. That presses a rod in the bowl, which pushes a micro switch on the base of the machine (round red or black recessed button, right under where the bowl's base sits, at the back of the machine). When you rotate the lid to away from the fully closed position, the motor shuts off. The bowl must be correctly seated and clicked into place. This is actually the same mechanism used in later Cuisinarts work, but they added an on-off-pulse switch. You can add such a switch to a CFP 5A, I've done it to mine. You can test the functioning of the micro switch, by depressing it with a chopstick end. There must be NO BLADE ON THE MACHINE!!! because the motor will start spinning the moment you touch that micro switch, and a mounted blade WILL cut off your fingers. It can easily take them off before you know what happened. The CFP 5A is a good machine. It was made in the mid-1970s by Robot Coupe of France, the inventor of the food processor. The only thing to watch out for, is that the stems on the discs can be fragile (40 year old plastic) and split under pressure, especially if you get a hunk of something jammed between lid and disc. The bowls, blades, discs, etc show up on eBay for pretty cheap. None of the accessories interchange with the later Cuisinart DLC models. The accessories from a similar-era Magimix or KitchenAid may fit. Compared to the DLC models, the motor is a little bit less powerful on the CFP 5A, which only matters if you are kneading a lot of dough.

I took another look on the internet. " How to soften hard Parmesan " I found this. LOU Materials Needed: Clean, moist dishcloth ÂZiptop freezer bag Â1 inch section of new sponge ÂVinegar ÂCheesecloth - - - - - - - - Simple Method Step 1 Wrap the Parmesan in a clean, moist dishcloth. Insert the wrapped cheese into a large ziptop freezer bag. Step 2 Press out any air in the bag before you fully seal the bag shut. Step 3 Place the cheese in an area where the temperature will remain between 55 and 65 degrees F for 24 hours. This should soften the cheese enough to be used with a box grater or for slicing. Vinegar Method Step 1 Cut a 1-inch square section of a new sponge. Step 2 Soak the sponge section in vinegar. Squeeze out the excess. Step 3 Wrap the sponge in cheesecloth. Place it along with the cheese into a ziptop freezer bag. Press out as much air from the bag as possible before sealing. Step 4 Place the bag in the crisper section or on the lowest tray of your refrigerator. Check after two days for softening. If needed, repeat the soaking of the sponge and let it sit another day or two.

I have an ancient Cuisinart DLC7PRO and am trying to decide whether to buy replacement parts or buy a new food processor. Does anyone have a favorite replacement parts site? Ones I have looked at say that replacement parts don't reliably fit the older units because they were not standardized from year to year even though the model number stayed the same. Do the old slicing/shredding discs fit the newer units? I know the fps some with more discs now than they used to, but I have some extras that it would be nice to hold onto. Does anyone have any additional thoughts about capacity, Kitchen Aid vs. Cuisinart, etc.?